2016 is over. 2017 has begun. Should we look at
the past or cast an eye on the future? Each one of us nurtures the hope that
the future will bring to fruition what the past could not deliver. Hazaaron
khwaishein aisi ki har khwaish pe dam nikle, as Ghalib would say: A thousand
wishes such, that for each I’d give my life!

What are the ideas for INDIA !!

Restore RBI’s credibilityby leaving
it alone-

2016
was a year that left the Reserve Bank badly bruised, because it was kept
in the news for the wrong reasons.

From
the unexpected resignation of Raghuram Rajan, to the flak RBI has received
since the demonetization, the institution needs to regain its credibility.

For
that, the government should focus on appointing independent directors on
its board, remove the impression of interference, and leave the
institution alone for a year.

Income Tax Relief and Direct Benefit Transfers:

The
Indian tax payers have undergone great hardship with the demonetization
process.

The
government should reward this constituency directly and explicitly.

There
should be an income tax rate cut in February 2017 budget for individual as
well as corporate taxpayers as well as rationalization of the tax
slabs.

The
government should also use the tax receipts from Income Declaration
Schemes (IDS) of 2016 for direct transfers at least to the Jan Dhan Yojana
(JDY) accounts.

Power and Roads Investments:

The
government has prioritized these two sectors since 2014.

In
2017, there should be an attempt to deliver 100% household power coverage
to as many villages as possible.

Similarly
a few large, visible road projects need to complete, especially around
metros.

There
should be a tangible touch-and-feel improvement on long distance commuting
in the country.

Put BharatNet
Project on Steroids:

The
Modi government put a premium on completing the BharatNet project and has
significantly improved coverage on laying fiber optic cable as well as
putting working digital infrastructure in gram
panchayats.

However, the project is still behind
schedule.

This digital infrastructure can be a big
boost for cashless digital India and can be a great complementary step for
demonetization.

Create
Employment Targets for Central Scheme:

The
government should focus on creating outcome targets for schemes like Swachh
Bharat and Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana.

India
is still not adding as many jobs as required to support a burgeoning
workforce.

Unless
the inputs translate into jobs, government spending on these programs will
not mean much.

A
quantum growth in the labour-intensive manufacturing sector is the best
means of providing employment to the unemployed and under-employed
workforce in agriculture.

The
government has a declared aim to create 100 million jobs in the
manufacturing sector by the year 2022 but little of this has translated to
the ground for the absence of a planning and policy focus.

Can
we in 2017 get our act together on this pivotal economic goal?

Keep supporting the farmer:

Targeted
intervention for farmers needs to be continued.

The
government made a decisive switch in 2016 budget when its policies turned
mildly populist for the rural sector.

This
push needs to be continued, in order to support farm incomes, but not due
to higher prices, but higher production.

This
supply side approach with social nets such as insurance and other incomes
will greatly help the rural sector.

The
need of the hour must be a special mission to enhance agricultural
productivity through investments in better seeds, inputs, irrigation, cold
storage, transportation and transportation.

It
has been estimated that for every one
per cent increase in agricultural output, overall GDP grows by two per
cent.

After
two successive drought years, let the New Year focus on the well being of
our farmers.

Poverty reduction:

It
is an assault on our credentials as a successful democracy that India
still has the largest number of the abjectly poor in the world.

This
must change, and can only do so if economic policies are so designed as to
reach the poorest of the poor.

More
needs to be done than to merely wait for the dividends of economic growth
to trickle down to the poor.

The
quality of life of the poorest must improve dramatically.

In
Bihar, for instance, Nitish Kumar, as part of his seven-point resolve, has
committed to providing potable water, electricity and roads to every
village within a specified time frame.

Mission health and education:

Notwithstanding
the fact that India produces some of the finest doctors, our medical
infrastructure outside the handful of super specialty hospitals in a few
chosen metropolises is woefully poor.

The
state of education, specially in government schools and colleges is
unacceptably poor.

Both
these sectors need much more funds and attention. Will 2017 see this
policy change?

Balanced regional development:

Five
relatively developed states in India receive the bulk of all public and
private flow of funds, while many of the least developed states, such as
Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha, are starved of investments.

This
lopsided spread of economic wellbeing must be rectified by policy
interventions like the granting of special category status.

2017
should be the year when we realise that all of India must be given the
opportunity to develop.

Mission tourism:

India,
that has almost everything to offer to a tourist, gets a paltry five to
six million tourists, while countries like South Africa and Mexico get
three to four times this figure and China receives six times more.

Even
with such low tourist footfalls, our tourism industry contributes about
eight per cent to our GDP and is a major employment generator.

The
time has come to end the institutional neglect of this sector and to begin
in 2017 a concerted drive to double the number of tourists coming to India
in the next three years.

Foreign policy:

It
is time that our foreign policy becomes part of a carefully calibrated
strategic framework and rescued from high publicity ad hocism.

In
particular, one can only hope that our relations with our neighbours see a
qualitative improvement, and that we are able to deal with Pakistan with
greater anticipation and policy coherence.

Here’s
also hoping that we are able to persuade China to be a more understanding
neighbour.

Culture:

India
is one of the oldest civilisations of the world, with a culture that is
marked by peaks of refinement and great diversity.

Unfortunately,
while all governments pay lip service to our cultural heritage, all of
them uniformly ignore the institutional investment required to sustain
this great legacy, specially at the grassroots level.

Culture
in our country needs to be rescued from the stranglehold of soulless
bureaucracy and provided the infrastructure to flourish. Will 2017 see
this happen?

Electoral reform:

India
may be the world’s largest democracy, but 2017 must be the year when it
becomes a more credible democracy.

For
this, the top priority must be electoral reform that severs the link
between unaccounted money and politics, since this unholy link is the seed
of all corruption in India.

We
need to do away with anonymous donors.

Every
penny must be accounted for.

Party
funds and financial transactions, must be audited, put up on a public
website and brought under the RTI Act.

The
Election Commission has recommended this. The government and Parliament
needs to act.